Help with Disability

How to make sure that you are getting the benefits you need, when you’re disabled and unable to work full time.

According to The Papworth Trust, 1 in 5 people in the UK are living with some form of disability, and while some of them manage to get on with their lives perfectly well, for others, their condition really impacts on their ability to work and earn a living. If this is you, then it’s very important that you’re claiming the benefits you’re entitled to maximise your income and ease some of the worry that you might be feeling.

Disability Allowance

The main benefit you likely to be entitled to is Disability Living Allowance (DLA). The amount you’d get would depend very much on the type of disability you’re living with, and also how difficult you find mobility day-to-day.

The different levels of care allowance are divided into low, middle and high. The lowest amount would be £21.80 per week, the middle amount is £55.10 per week and the highest amount would come to £82.30 per week.

There’s also a second part to DLA, which is designed to cover any difficulties you have with mobility. The lower amount available is £21.80 and the higher amount is £57.45 per week.

Sometimes you have to attend a medical test involving an interview and examination, so that a doctor can see how the disability affects you day-to-day and what amount of benefit you’re entitled to.

Other Benefits

Remember, if you’re entitled to disability living allowance, then you might be entitled to other benefits as well, such as tax credits. Make sure that you visit the Government’s website to find out about what you could be claiming.

Disability grants

Whilst there is official help in the form of benefits, it might also be possible to receive a grant from a charity to help with living costs and expenses if you are disabled. If you think that you may need this extra help, then Turn2us is a great way of finding a grant that might be available to you. All you have to do is put some personal details into their search tool and they’ll tell you whether there’s anything you could apply for. .

Help with Utilities

And don’t forget that there may be other ways to maximise your income and savings, with utilities being a good place to start. The major electricity suppliers are signed up to the Warm Homes Discount Scheme, which means that, if you qualify, you will get £140 off your electricity bill for 2015-2016.

To qualify, your supplier would need to be signed up to the scheme, you or your partner’s name would have to be on the bill and you’d have to be receiving the Guarantee credit element of Pension credit. Even if you’re not receiving this part of the Pension credit, if you’re on a low income, it’s still worth getting in touch with your supplier to see whether there is anything that they can do to help.

And, finally, the Debt Advisory Centre is here to help. If you’ve found that you’ve fallen on hard times and debts mounting up, reach out and ask for help. Whatever the reason for your financial situation and however difficult it is at the moment, there will be a debt solution to help.

We hope you’ll be happy with our service but, if you’re not, we want to hear from you so we can try to put that right. Read here for information about our Complaints Procedure and about your right to refer a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Your payments into a Debt Management Plan are protected and compensation could be available from the FSCS if there are any shortfalls in funds held on a customer's behalf.

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